Mike Norvell’s coaching career is an American Dream story that wouldn’t have been possible without his wife, Maria Norvell.
Mike Norvell, the American college football coach currently serving as the head football coach for Florida State University, is happily married to his wife of 20 years, Maria Norvell.
The couple met during their college years at the University of Central Arkansas, where Mike played as a wide receiver for the Central Arkansas Bears from 2001 to 2005.
Since their fateful encounter as dance partners in college, their young relationship has turned into a family of three.
Mike Norvell and His Wife, Maria Norvell, Married in 2004!
Having initially enrolled at Louisiana Tech in 2000, Mike transferred to UCA in 2001.
There, he met his future wife, Maria Chiolino, a Psychology major who joined the University in 1999. The two first met in a ballroom dancing class.
Mike joined the class expecting to dance with his friend and a girl’s basketball player, but he was paired up with her roommate instead.
They became friends, and the friendship quickly blossomed into a relationship.
A year after Maria’s graduation in 2003, the pair married on December 18, 2004.
Mike graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in science education.
In a 2015 interview with Memphis Daily News, Maria said,
We were just friends and he was amazing. He really swept me off my feet.
memphisdailynews.com
In the same interview, when Mike was asked how he managed to land his beautiful wife, he answered,
I don’t know if I was the first choice, but I was the one that brought it home.
memphisdailynews.com
Together they have a daughter, Mila Norvell, born on June 23, 2014.
Maria Norvell Earned a Masters Degree in 2005!
After graduating from UCA, Maria continued her education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she received a Master of Applied Psychology in 2005.
She then worked as a human resource executive at Target for a year.
Maria worked as an account service manager at MailSouth for another year before becoming the assistant director of alumni and development at Cascia Hall Preparatory School.
I want to wish a very special birthday to my wife and best friend Maria! It’s been an incredible journey and I’m grateful for everyday we get to experience life together. She is an amazing mother, a loving spirit, and wonderful friend to so many. Have a great day my love! pic.twitter.com/ebh8BTZYrY
— Mike Norvell (@Coach_Norvell) October 18, 2020
Mike Faced Challenges In His Initial Days As A Coach
Besides her own professional career, Maria has supported her husband’s career.
During the infancy of Mike’s coaching career, he was offered his first full-time job from Division II’s Delta State, but Maria urged him to decline and aim higher.
This led Mike to work as a graduate assistant under head coach Todd Graham at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The position didn’t pay much, so Mike had to sleep on couches. Of course, living with Maria wasn’t an option because she was still back in Arkansas.
After a year of this arrangement, Maria decided to take a leap of faith, so she quit her Target job and moved to Oklahoma.
Finding a job was difficult initially, so Mike worked 18-hour days to support him and his wife. However, things became easier after Maria found her job at Cascia Hall.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Mike Norvell was part of the UCA Bears team that won the Gulf South Conference championship in 2005 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs, finishing the season with an 11-3 record.
- Mike Norvell never made it to the NFL primarily due to his physical stature. Despite his impressive collegiate career at the University of Central Arkansas, where he set records for receptions and receiving yards, his size and speed were considered less than ideal for the NFL level.
- Before starting his collegiate coaching career, Mike Norvell gained valuable experience as an assistant coach at Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington, Texas. He began coaching there at the age of 17, which helped him develop his coaching skills early on.
Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch as I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!